The Thing
by NekoNessa017
Summary: a group of friends goes for a harmless trek through the woods; and awake something that never should be alive


**By: NekoNessa017**

One afternoon a group of four friends are walking around town. They are traveling the outskirts of Myrkwood, located in the country of Arielle. This country is surrounded by trees and grasslands. Myrkwood is nestled between a circle of hills near the equator, so all the seasons are mild with a lot of downpours. At this moment, the sun is shining and it is the perfect temperature to hang around outside. The friends are wandering around like they do every night, joking around and talking. They decide to rest, so they go and head over to sit beneath a large weeping willow. The first one to arrive is without a doubt the leader of this little band of 16-year-olds. He has shoulder-length black hair pulled back in a loose pony and he has those dark eyes that hold wisdom and look black, but they always have the light of laughter in them.

He would most likely be seen as a girl's dream come true. He has a nice build, always wears casual clothing, and has the hair that hangs in his eyes when let down. His nice-guy personality shows as he helps a girl get through the drooping leaves of the willow. This girl looks similar to him. She has black hair that goes down to the middle of her back. It is hanging freely around her shoulders as she hopped up onto a branch above Jeremiah-who was now leaning against the trunk of the tree in a cool-guy way; arms crossed, looking like he's observing the weather. He looks up at Demona. Her dark purple eyes survey the landscape as two other people arrive-one guy one girl.

The guy that just arrived has loose, dark blonde hair hanging around his face. His hazel eyes show the giddiness that lives within him. Like a little child, he is always amused, and this shows as he jumps up towards a branch 6 feet off the ground, swinging for awhile before finally resting on the limb, eyes down at the people below him. The girl that follows him in is different.

Her eyes are shining with an intelligence that the other three didn't possess. She is the one who tells them if danger is anywhere near. She sits cross-legged on the ground, under the guy in the tree. Her dark brown hair blends well with the bark, but her blue-grey eyes are sharp as she checked over all her companions silently.

"So," says the guy's voice from the tree. "Now that we're out here, what does everyone want to do?" His eyes scan for any idea on one of his friends' faces. They rest on the girl on the ground. "You usually have something right away Thailla," he says looking at her thoughtfully. She shakes her head. "Not this time Danver." she answered smiling. "But I'll think about it."

"What about you Demona?" she shakes her head and looks over at Jeremiah. His gaze switches from her to Danver. "I have an idea, why don't we go into the forest? That's the one place we haven't seen yet." Danver's eyes light up. "Yay! Great idea Jer! Let's go!" Thailla shakes her head. "We should do something else first." Jeremiah gives her a questioning look. She laughs. "Are we going to just explore or spend the night there?" Demona's quiet voice comes from the depths of the tree. "I think we should spend the night; perhaps Danver will be daring and go in first?" she says with a smirk.

"Pfft! I can go in there whenever! I'll just need some help in the back…Thailla's mine!" She rolls her eyes. "Why me?" Danver shrugs, "What? I can't have any help?"

"Well, why not Dem or Jer?" Danver grins wolfishly, "They're not strong enough! They'd rather take the lead…as usual…am I right?" he says glancing at Demona as she leaps from the branch she was on to the ground below, next to Jeremiah. "Aye that's true." responds Jeremiah. "But we do it because you guys are new here ya know?"

"He_ is_ telling the truth Dan. They have lived here all their life so far, we've only been here for eight."

"I know that, I just wanted to be weird is all. I'm like that." Demona rolls her eyes and laughs. "What? It's true!" Danver replies, looking over at her. "I know," is all she said before turning and walking off towards the town. Jeremiah watches her go. "Well come on you two we're burning daylight." and with that the rest follow Demona. They arrive at town and go to their houses. As they walk their separate ways, Jeremiah's voice calls to them, "Meet under the Willow tree whenever you're ready!"

Within fifteen minutes, Demona is at the Willow tree. Her stuff is in a pile, and she is in the tree again. Higher up she goes until she was as close to the top as she could get, and then her eyes take in the expansive Night Wood forest. _That's where we're going to spend the night!_She thinks. She looks over to the town and sees her friends crossing the bridge over the little river that separates Myrkwood from the forest, and the outside. She looked back to the forest, her eyes glancing over the treetops. She passed a particular spot where it was darker than the rest of the forest. She took a silent, deep breath. _The heart of the forest! Everyone says it's haunted!_ She was getting excited now. She'd have to convince her friends to go with her. _Jerri won't be tough,_ she thought to herself as her friends approached the Willow.

She looked back towards the heart of Night Wood and started. She could have sworn she saw something out there. She dismissed it as a figment of her imagination and clambered down the tree with surprising speed. Within moments she hit the ground on her feet just as Danver parted the curtain of leaves. He came in, followed by Jeremiah then Thailla, who was looking rather alarmed.

They looked at each other, and with a curt nod Thailla told Demona she would tell her later. She went back to the guys, who were just finished dropping their stuff at the foot of the tree. "I've been waiting for awhile," she said before Jeremiah could say anything, "So I climbed up to almost the top of the tree," she motioned to it, "and looked over the treetops of Night Wood. Is anyone interested in going to a place rumored to be haunted by spirits of the Otherworld?" They looked at each other. "I'm up for it! Any challenge is fun for me!" said Danver with a triumphant look on his face. "I won't get scared."

Thailla laughed a strained laugh. "Yea, like the time at the river? Boy, you didn't get scared at all!"

Danver turned to her. "It was dark and I had no idea where you were until you jumped out from behind me!" Demona giggled and Thailla smiled. "Oh come on! You would do it too if, say, you lost Demona, Jer, and she decided she'd scare you!"

"I would not," Jeremiah said, a little coldly, "ever lose Demona," Danver put his hands up. "Dude, didn't mean to offend you alright? Sorry." Jerry looked over at Demona and Thailla. "I think it would be a good idea to go into the heart of the forest, but not tonight." He said. He put up his hand to stall the objectives from his friends. "It's really late and we've had a trying day." They get quiet and look at him. They all agree-albeit reluctantly-, set up camp, and went to their tents.

The night passed uneventfully except for the common staying up late talking about secrets and things. Despite the late-night talking, they got up just as the sun cleared the horizon. It took them half an hour to pack their things up so nothing could reach the pile; now on top of the strongest, lowest branch. With that done, they ate a good-sized breakfast and headed towards Night Wood. They reached the tree-line and broke through, coming upon a clearing inside the forest.

This clearing looked like any other clearing, but the fact was that the light from the early sun gave it the look of being illuminated by a green light. Around the group there was no sound, not even from the animals of the forest. The scene took on quite an eerie look at that time, and they had no urge to move, breath or even speak. Being himself, Danver decided to-after his thoughts of this silence from them being silly came to his mind-walked towards the clearing a bit.

"Well, now where to Dem?" Thailla turned to him and shushed him. She looked around the clearing, and Jerry came up to her. "D'you hear anything out of the ordinary?" he asked at a whisper. "That's the thing," she replied, her eyes lingering on the trees ahead of them. "There is nothing _to_ hear; just, silence."

"You guys, this is how it always is in Night Wood. It's when you hear something that makes it out of the ordinary." She turned to Jeremiah. "Don't you remember anything we were taught by our parents and teachers?"

"Actually, now that you mentioned it…" he looked around the trees and turned to the group. Thailla shudders. "Something dormant lies within these woods, and if it's awoken it won't like us in here." Danver laughed quietly. "We'll be sure to not wake it up then won't we?" He turns and heads to the woods on the other side of the clearing, followed by Demona, Jeremiah, and then Thailla. She stayed back for a bit, her eyes straying to the light they were traveling through. _I really don't care what Demona and Danver say. There's something here, and it's bad, real bad. _Her eyes go to where they entered then she runs to catch up with the others. _We'll have to watch our backs for sure._

"Demona wait! You're going too fast for us!" She slows up and waits. Earlier she had caught a glimpse of what looked like a grey blur. She wanted to know what it was so she had started to follow it, oblivious for the time being that her friends were with her. Now that she noticed, she mentally slapped herself. Why was she following a strange object without her friends close behind her? Jeremiah got to her first. "What do you think you were doing?" She turned to him but said nothing. The other two caught up and she spoke.

"I was...following something. I saw it earlier dashing through the trees. It looked as though it was trailing us and I just wanted to make sure it wasn't dangerous." The other three exchanged glances, then Danver spoke. "Why didn't you tell us? Can you see it still?" Demona looked around the trees surrounding them and shakes her head. "Just trees," she said.

"Should we keep following it?" Thailla asked from the back, shooting a nervous glance around. If they were being trailed they needed to know where it went incase it was a hunter. They all looked at Jeremiah and he nods. He lets Demona take the lead; all the while keeping a hand on her arm should she speed up again. They wandered around until they came across another clearing, this one looking normal.

"There it is!" Demona said, pointing to the other side. There stood the blur, but it turned out to be a grey wolf. It scampered away when they traveled near it. Jeremiah looks over at her. "Guys, look!" He points to where the grey wolf had disappeared to and again another clearing, this one smaller than the other two; and much darker. On the other side of the clearing was the wolf that had stayed there momentarily then left, leaving the four in the gloomy atmosphere. _Odd, having this many clearings not even half-way into the forest_, Jeremiah thought to himself.

"What is that?" Thailla points to a large pile of rubbish just inside the trees. Jeremiah shrugs. "No idea, it's been here ever since we've lived here so I'd rather-" A cry cut him off. "Danver! Get away from there!" He and Demona turn on their heels, expecting an attack on Danver. Thailla was yelling at Danver, for he had gotten close to the pile of rubbish. Danverturns, "Come on it's just a pile of dead sticks; maybe someone buried something in it and forgot about it. Wouldn't it be nice if we could give it back to them?" Thailla shakes her head. "Or its something not meant to be disturbed!"

"Danver, come on, get back here!" Thaillapleaded urgently. He shook his head "Nothing's wrong, you can't feel anything can you?"

"No, but something's not right here…" She was nervous and looked over at Jeremiah. "Danver get back here!" he tried, but Danver wouldn't listen. He went over and knelt beside it. Demona and the other two ran over to stop him from touching it. He got extremely close; then an eerie sound came from the depths of the trees right where they were a moment before. "What the-?!" Demona cried. She spun around just as Jeremiah grabbed her arm and led her into the bushes behind, not taking care to dodge the rubble, which he swiftly kicked over in his instinct to protect his girl. Danver came a few seconds later, being dragged by Thailla. The howl came again, closer this time; eerier.

"C'mon Thailla, just a little—" She clamped her hand over his mouth as Jeremiah looked over the top of the bushes. The other three stayed on the ground. His eyes looked around in the darkness of the forest roof where the howl sounded like it came from and rested on a pair of red eyes. They were looking right at him and, from what he could see, it had no body. Then the animal crept out of the shield of trees and Jeremiah could make out what it was.

It was too tall to be a dog. Yet, this creature was on all fours, so it couldn't be human. Its entire body was covered in sleek, grey fur. It was showing its three-inch long front fangs, and was staring at them with cold, blood-red, pupil-less eyes. Jeremiah and thing stood facing each other, staring each other down. Demona started straightening to see what had frozen Jerry to the spot. She cautiously reached up and touched his arm.

"Jer? What's wrong?" She straightened up more, slowly, painfully slow until she saw the creature but it couldn't see her. One glance and she slowly went back down. "I…I don't know what it is, but it's gotten Jer frozen in fear," She whispered to the others. "What does it look like?" Thailla whispered back, keeping her hand over Danver's mouth the entire time. Demona shuddered. Jeremiah must have felt it because he rested his hand-hidden from the thing-on her shoulder. The four were so close they could feel each other trembling with fear they didn't know they owned. Demona responded even more quietly, "It looks like the thing I was following earlier."

"But that can't be possible! Wasn't it the wolf?" Demona shook her head. "It couldn't be, because I had a nagging urge to turn back once I saw it, but curiosity overwhelmed the eerie feeling I got." She tensed up and Jerry squeezed her arm. "It's ok you three," he murmured, "It looks like it is leaving." Demona and Thailla slowly came up from the bushes, Thailla holding a still struggling Danver, then reached the level Jerry was at. Sure enough, its back was turned but it didn't look like it going to be was leaving anytime soon.

Suddenly it threw back its head and let out a blood-curdling howl. They all flinched, but it made no move to turn around, nor did it make any response that showed it sensed their movement. It howled again, and with an urgent tug in his hands, he turned to see Demona motioning for the other side of the trees, away from the thing. Danver and Thailla were already half-way there when the other two came after them, all moving quickly but quietly. They were already inside the trees when they heard a crashing behind them. It was coming after them!

They ran as fast as they could, keeping as quiet as one can when running for one's life through thick greenery and dead leaves. "Up there!" Motioned Danverto a tree. They all clambered up said tree and each was five feet off the ground when the creature came bursting through the shrubbery they were just hiding in. It stopped right under their tree and started sniffing the air. Danver looked up to Jeremiah. "D'you think it could be a werewolf?" In Myrkwood and the surrounding country, there were such creatures as werewolves, vampires, and others living throughout.

Jeremiah looked over at Danver, who was right next to him, the girls a few branches higher up. "No it can't be. Werewolves around here are usually black and brown. But who knows?" he looked down at the thing with a terror even he couldn't explain. "It could be some hybrid sent to hunt people…" They moved behind the leaves-futile attempt, for the thing had looked up into the tree, nostrils flared. It had caught their scents!

Suddenly, the thing began climbing the tree, leaping from the floor to the third branch as if jumping down the last three stairs of a staircase. "Demona! Thailla! UP!!" Jerry shouted from below them. Without hesitation the girls went up to the last strong branch the tree was sustaining. "We can't go up anymore!" cried Thailla desperately. "Jerry what do we do?!" yelled Danver. He thought for a few. "Jump to the nearest tree then climb down it!"

"Won't it follow us?!" Thailla replied.

"Do you have any other ideas at the moment?"

"Yea, go through some water!"

"There's none around _here_!"

"Ok but if I die you're the first one I'm coming after!" she said as she leapt to the next tree, the others hot on her heels. They clambered down and started running.

"How do we know where we're going?!"

"LISTEN AROUND YOU!" Snapped Demona. She did, and she heard a sound.

"That way? We're going THAT WAY?!" she yelled at Jeremiah. "Yes we are; you made a good point when you mentioned running water, and this is the only running water around here."

"It's too tiny!"

"It's the only water around here in the forest."

"There's got to be more! It won't be enough!"

"Yes it will; it will mask our scents enough to let us slip to more water."

"You just said-"

"I know what I said, but it just got to me! Incase you haven't noticed we're being CHASED by a THING!"

"Quit it you two! Fighting's not going to help us here!" snapped Danver loudly. They heard a crash right behind him and they all turned instantly to the right, following the sound trail of the stream they were going to go through. They hit the water. "Stay low and keep quiet!" Jeremiah hissed to his friends. They all ran into the water and followed it for a ways, until they found a little dip just big enough for four people to squeeze into without being seen. Without complaint they all did as Jeremiah told them to, squishing together and close to the wall underneath the lip of the bank.

As the thing pursued closer, they crammed themselves near the wall more than it should be. They heard a crash about half a league downstream, and the scuffling of a nose. _I think it lost our scent! _Danver thought to himself. There were a few painfully long moments when it sounded like it was getting closer to their hiding place, and Danver second-guessed himself, but it turned out to be a false alarm. These noises came and went for what seemed like hours. Then they heard the sound of a hunter distressed that it lost its prey and sauntering off into the bushes, inevitably setting a sense of false security for the four friends huddled under the bank.

A few hours later, he heard another sound: a shifting of leaves, right above their hiding place. Jeremiah, the one keeping watch, was the only one that heard the noise. He quietly woke up Demona, who was cuddled against his side in his arms like a puppy. She woke up and her violet eyes pierced the twilight light that was around them, looking frightened. She uncurled from her position and gave Jeremiah a very scared look. He rocks her and murmurs a few words of consolation; then he put his finger to his lips and she nods, understanding immediately when he motioned above them. She woke up the other two, who woke up not as fast.

They looked at Thailla. She shook her head; she didn't sense anything out of the ordinary, so Danver, being the most experienced woodsman of the group, climbed up the bank stealthily. His eyes adjusted to the dimming light, the top of his head just showing, he looked around the shadows around them. He trained his hearing to listen to unnatural sounds. He heard the sound of breathing, and turned to it. It was just Jeremiah.

"Jeryou scared the crap out of me!" he whispered. Jeremiah gave him a small, strained smile, "Sorry. Didn't mean to dude," He looks around. "Can you see anything? My eyes are not in light like this."

"No; it's just…"

"Trees and such?" Danver nods. "Do you think it's safe now Dan?" He looks into Jer's eyes and sees something in there, but it quickly goes away. "I think it is...for now." Jeremiah nods and looks out over the stream. "I just can't hold this in; I'm so worried about everyone..." he turns his dark eyes back to Dan. "I just can't help that I'm putting her in this danger. I'm puttin' you all in this danger. I get insane sometimes with all this worry. The only way I'm staying on is..."

"Demona," Dan finished for him. Jeremiah nods. "We should try to get back down soon; it's getting darker." Danverlooks up at the small piece of sky above them. "Yea, it's about…sunset. To be safe we should…stay here for the night together."

"What about our stuff?"

"Hopefully it will do well without us there. It was tied up by me and I am the most experienced in woodsman in the group," Danver states.

Jeremiah nods. "We'll have to tell the girls as soon as we get back down."

"It will be soon too; it's getting darker and I don't want that creature to get us." Danver nods and they go down. Thailla was looking across the river with real worry in her eyes. "Thai, what's wrong?" Demona asked as the guys came back down. "There's something out there…"

"Is it-?" Thailla nods. "I'm sure it is; it feels like it did a few hours ago when it was chasing us, but less now…" She shudders and Demona rubs her arm. "It will be okay, I'm sure. We'll figure this out. But…what—how—did we wake it up?" Danver sits next to Thailla. "What if we didn't wake it up?" Thailla said, wondering. "Maybe it's been stalking this forest for a long time?" Jeremiah came down as well, sitting next to Demona, who was shivering and trying to warm herself up. He helped by putting his arm around her.

"Maybe; that _is_ always a possibility," Jeremiah said. "But we do need to go to sleep. I'll take the next watch."

"No, Jerry you need to sleep. I'll take the next watch," Danver said. Jeremiah thanked Danver and fell asleep almost instantly. Thailla went next, followed by Demona. The night went by; with the only commotions being watches switched, normal sounds of the forest at night, and sleeping. The morning came and Demona woke everyone up. They checked their surroundings. There was no sign of the creature, but it was still dark, so they sat under the bank, jumping at every sound.

Morning's light came and they set back out to their camp. They arrived and nothing was amiss, but there were signs of forest life that had wandered into the makeshift camp. They took their belongings and trekked back to the town. Thailla kept looking back to the forest. Demona brought this subject to light by falling behind and talking to her. "Thai, you've been quiet…quieter than even me." Thailla shakes her head. "It's just…I feel like we're being watched by it…" Demona looks back behind to the forest, and she saw the eyes. "It is…just inside the tree line."

They make it back, all four of them petrified. Demona was hanging onto Jeremiah's arm, clutching it like it was the last thing on earth she could be connected to. Thailla was hanging onto Danver's and Jeremiah's arms too. They were walking to the town, arms linked, when a howl pierced the morning air. It was distant, and since it was daytime it didn't bother them. It sounded really close to a wolf's howl, but they all new different.

"We need to go to the library you guys," Jeremiah said a few weeks later. They were gathered under the Willow tree as they have been the past few days, plotting a way to get rid of the thing, which had been stalking them during the night, pacing around their houses, howling so chillingly that they would wake up and it would take them ages to go back to sleep. "So the books will help take the terror away from our hearts? Come on Jer, be serious!"

"No one's in the mood Dan,"

"Well sorry, just trying to help."

"It helped a bit," Demona said, smiling. Jeremiah continues. "We can't stay like this forever. What if we woke the thing up? More than likely, it would hunt down our kin, and we wouldn't be able to do anything if we died."

"So, what are you proposing we do then Jerry?" asks Thailla. He looks at all of their faces. "Simple, we have to look up anything, _anything_ that's close to the thing that chased us; any werewolf myths, shape shifter myths, anything."

"Shape shifter myths?" Thailla asks. Jeremiah nods and turns to Demona. "I think what you were following was in fact the creature that pursued us later that day."

"So you think…?" began Danver.

"Yes, I'm thinking the wolf was the same thing, but not the whole time." They all look at him, the same puzzled expression on their faces. He gave them a small smile. "Come on guys, think. How coincidental is it that there was a grey wolf there when we first entered, and then that creature took its place? It had the same color fur, same build-just thinner-and it was in the same particular spot the wolf was in moments before!"

"But, Jer, don't you think the creature could have _eaten_the poor wolf before it came out?" Demona asks. He shakes his head. "Think guys. Thailla felt the danger _within _the wolf." They all turn to her and she nods. "I thought at the time it was the danger of a normal predator stalking its prey. I talked about it a couple weeks ago and mentioned it, remember?" Danver and Demona nod at the same time. "So see?" continues Jeremiah. "The whole time we were following Dem, who was following the wolf, who was _purposefully_ leading us to the site, where I unintentionally knocked the pile of rubbish over. I knew something bad was going to happen, but I didn't know it would release the Thing that pursued us. So, let's go to the library."

"We need to split up when we're in the library," Demonasays as they arrive toward the doors. "There is a particularly large section on how to get rid of a creature such as Werewolves, Vampires, and the thing will hopefully be under 'Werewolves'." They entered the library and began their search. After three hours of searching through books, such as _Curses and How to Get Rid of Them_ and _You and the Werewolf Curse_, they found nothing.

"Wait, guys I found something!" calls Danver from a few shelves behind them. The others go over. "What did you find Dan?"

"Look!" he points to a picture in the book he was reading. "It's the Thing!"

"It sure has kept that name with us hasn't it?" Thailla said with a grin. Danver shook his head. "No, that's actually the real name, look!" They all look at the caption. _The Thing is a grey-furred animal that hunts whatever is in its way. Here is a picture of it stalking prey_. "There's more, too! I think we found it." They read a small section: 'The Thing has been one of the most terrifying creatures to ever walk the planet. Back in the Greek ages when one was woken up from its eternal slumber, it would hunt down and kill all that shared the bloodline of the one person that set it free, until it was sent to its earthy cell yet again. The Thing hunts as a wolf would stalk; using its prey's fear against itself to lead them to their imminent death.'

"Creepy!" muttered Demona, shuddering slightly. Jeremiah put a supporting hand in hers and she squeezed it. They continued reading: 'ages have come where myriad amounts of people would try to imprison the Thing, and all have failed until today. The Thing will not be imprisoned until the deed it's been sent to do is done.' "What deed?" murmured Danver. Thailla slaps him lightly. "Haven't you been reading the inscription? It won't stop until the bloodline of the ones that woke it up are all gone!"

"Guys, there's more keep reading!" said Jeremiah: 'to kill or rid yourself of the Thing that someone in your group had woken up, you need to travel to the same place you first saw it at night with the person who woke it up in the lead. You will know who woke it up because they were the one that-either unintentionally or intentionally-knocked over the prison cell that held the Thing captive. To quit the Thing pursuing you, you simply need to re-make said cell that held the Thing prisoner in any material stronger than the last.'

"Okay, all the wordiness doesn't help one bit," supposed Thailla, looking frustrated. "Simply put, the one who did the waking of the Thing must put it back into a stronger cell before it can finish its rain of terror," stated Danver. "Or else—"

"We all know, it will destroy the world for those who are related by blood to the person who did the waking," said Thailla. "I had no idea I had woken it. It's simple now; I knocked it over, so I'm the one that needs to imprison it again." He shivers so slightly that no one detected it except Demona, who slipped her hand out of his and put her arm around his shoulders.

"That sounds too easy, there's got to be a catch," Thailla said from across the table. "Calm down Thai, there's more," said Danver. He read the rest out loud: 'there is only one way you can do this though. It has to be a new moon on a clear night; otherwise the Thing will break free of its bindings, and kill all who tried to bind it.'

"Well, aren't we a nice creature that was brought up as learning to trust humans?" said Demona sarcastically.

"Well, there you guys go." said Danver ignoring the interruption. "When are we to start the capturing?"

"Tonight," Demona said. "It's the only new moon this whole month."

The day came and went, the anxiety building as the night drew nearer and nearer. When the time came, they all gathered under the Willow and started towards the tree line. They slowly, cautiously entered. Predicting the worse, they got into their meager fighting stances, but all was quiet. Not a word was spoken as they walked to the clearing the Thing was woken from. All was silence as they went through the first clearing. Thailla broke the silence.

"Guys, whatever you do, do not go into the green light again; that may attract its attention," she whispered to them softly. They all nodded in understanding and followed Jeremiah around the edge of the clearing, ever alert. They were half a league to the clearing when they heard rustling behind them and a snarl. Danver, who was bringing up the rear, wielded a sharp stick in his hand as he turned around. There were the eyes. He signaled to Jeremiah, who was looking back as all the others were and nodded. The plan was working. So far, so good. Now came the hard part.

They walked into the clearing and split up. The Thing was watching their every move. It's seen this before and it needed to stop it! It lunged out of the foliage right to Danver, who was holding the material for a makeshift jail. Danver let out a small whine and dropped the sticks, dodging the Thing. It flew right past him, its claws a hair's breadth away from his skin. He backed up to where they entered the clearing just as the creature twisted itself to get another attack on Danver.

Demona jumped out and threw a rock at the creature, who turned on a dime and when straight for Jeremiah. He was hurriedly 'building' another jail for the Thing. He heard Demona's screech of worry and fear, and rolled out of the way enough so that the Thing's claws buried into the ground. It was convulsing its body, slowly getting its claws out one by one. Its eyes met Jeremiah's and he felt the pure hatred emanating from the creature's body. It was growling, saliva dripping from its mouth, its eyes glowing red.

Jeremiah broke away from the trance of terror and finished building the jail. He brought it to where the last one was; it was only a few inches away from the Thing's swiping claws. _I have to do this for the sake of my family, I can't back down now!_ He told himself as his feet wouldn't move. He finally got his first step, the creature's left hand was free, swiping the air around it frantically. He kept walking. _Oh, god I can't watch this! I can't watch him get killed! _Cried Demona. She covered her eyes and turned away just as the creature's other hand broke free.

Everything went slow for Jeremiah after that. He could see the creature coming at him, claws and fangs gleaming of their own accord. He brought the cage up just as the creature almost connected with his skin, stopping it in its tracks. He slammed the cage down, causing the Thing to howl in fury, rage, and pain. It was over now! He turned to see the others looking disbelieving that it was over so soon. The feeling came over him too as he walked over to where the three were waiting

All she heard was scuffling, banging, and a howl of rage and pain. All was silent after a moment, and she lifted her head from her hands. She was relieved that he had no mark on him, but he was shaking badly. She ran to him and hugged him tightly, with Thailla and Danver doing the same, but a shorter time limit for them. A growl from the Thing's direction stopped them. They all turned.

It was the wolf they saw that night they woke up the Thing, and it gave Thailla an uncomfortable feeling-and not the normal one. "It's still free!!" She cried as the wolf stalked towards them. Danver and Jeremiah pushed the girls towards the trees and took position in front of them. Wielding sharp sticks, they faced the wolf. "Jer! Dan! Don't touch it!" called Demona from behind them. "It has some of the Thing in it! It will get to you if you get inflicted damage!"

"Now you tell us!" said Danverover his shoulder. "I just remembered okay?" In a few short minutes of simple defensive maneuvers, the wolf was dead and put in a smaller prison across the way from the real Thing. Jeremiah wasn't shaking as badly, but he was still scared from being that close to a creature that inflicted terror into him and his companions. "It feels better in here already," Demona said, slipping her arm through his. She started steering him away from the cages.

"Come on, let's get out of here. It still feels creepy," said Demona. She and Jeremiah led the group out of the forest back to the Willow tree. "You know," Danver said after they had relaxed onto the grass below the tree's falling leaves, "It doesn't seem _as _scary as it did when it all happened, but it'll still be there." They all nod in agreement. "The psychological stress it put on all of us will affect us all tonight." says Thailla. "We might have to spend the nights with our lights on, but maybe it will pass with time...I'm sure." They spent the remainder of the day talking, trying to get themselves in at least a semi-sane mood before they returned. It worked, and as Thailla predicted, they all had awhile before they could go to sleep without the feeling they were being watched by unfriendly eyes.


End file.
